Raise That Gas Tank!

To move our rear axle back to achieve the 108" wheelbase we wanted, the gas tank had to go. Follow along as we relocate the gas tank upward, (to make room for our relocated axle) and fab a new enclosure to keep everything sealed up.

The first (and scariest) step in this project was to cut a big hole in the rear floor of our Jeep and cut out the facory crossmember.

Then, Alex welded in this square tube crossmember, which will support our new gas tank shelf.

We opted to keep the stock gas tank. This option is cheaper than buying a fuel cell and other associated parts, and we were able to retain the factory gas gauge.

Next, we fabbed up a base plate for our gas tank to sit on and bolted it in. The plate is made from 1/8" steel.

<<<<<Click on the pics at left to enlarge...

Here's our gas tank in place for a test fit.

We're using HD ratchet straps to hold it in place. We also had to extend the main fuel line, vent and return lines and electrical connections for the fuel pump. The main fuel line is a high pressure line. We used a quality flaring tool and fabbed a piece of extended hard fuel line to bridge the gap. We've seen people do this with rubber line and hose clamps. That's a no-no!

We fabbed up our enclosure box from 1/8" steel. The front and sides are bent from 1 piece. We welded in angle iron around the top, with weld nuts on the bottom side to provide mounting for our box lid. Note the body mounts we incorporated into the design, to make up for the 2 mounts we lost when we cut out the factory crossmember, and the hole on the drivers side for our gas tank filler.

Our gas tank filler disappeared when we comp cut our rear fenders. Using the stock filler neck, we fabbed a bracket from 1/8" steel and mounted it all up with a muffler clamp. Very simple, but clean looking solution. We modified the stock filler hoses a bit and everything bolted right up.

At this point, we've added a few extra gussets and supports. The box has been welded and bolted in. The edges have been sealed with Fusor brand polyurethane sealer and the entire tub has been coated with Durabak bedliner. You can see the gas filler hose routing, and the indention we built into the rear of the box to make room for the factory tailgate latch mechanism.

The first pic shows our complete enclosure and tire carrier set-up. We bent up the carrier hoop from some extra tubing and welded it all up. Since we didn't need the Rubicon Express rear long arms any more, we cut the joints off of the upper control arms and welded them in to become the pivot points for our new tire carrier. The spare tire mounts are fabbed from some square tubing and 3/16" steel plate. Some 3" RE bumpstops were incorporated on the front of the carrier to keep it all level. Finally, we had the lid and carrier all Armacoated.

Here's a bad pic of what our project looks like now, with the spare tire installed.

We'll get some better pics out in the light soon...

Stay Tuned!